This proposal is a request for partial support for an international conference on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules, which is part of the Gordon Research Conference series. The meeting will be held on February 1 - 6, 2009 at the Ventura Beach Marriott, Ventura, California. The broad and long-term objectives of the conference are to increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of cell adhesion;to provide insights into how cell adhesion contributes to normal embryonic development and tissue homeostasis;and to discover how it impacts on disease. The specific aims of the meeting are to convene 30 invited speakers, representing the cutting edge of current research in the area and a total of approximately 160 participants for a five-day conference. The conference will be held in a relatively isolated setting to maximise opportunities for informal interactions between delegates. The program will have sessions devoted to integrin structure, activation and signaling;the impact of physical forces and cytoskeletal assembly on cell adhesion;the role of cell adhesion in embryonic morphogenesis and stem cell behavior;and the contribution of cell adhesion to disease mechanisms. A further session will be devoted to new imaging techniques that allow visualization of cell adhesion mechanisms in real time in living tissue. In addition to the invited speakers the program will contain short talks selected from submitted abstracts and there will be two posters sessions to further maximize scientific discussions. The significance of this application is that the Gordon Research Conference on Fibronectin, Integrins and Related Molecules is the pre-eminent gathering of researchers in the field;as it is held only every second year it is eagerly anticipated and heavily over-subscribed. The health relatedness of this application is that the discussions will provide new insights into the pathogenesis of diseases that include cancer and blood disorders. Public Health Relevance: The health relatedness of this application is that the focus of the meeting, cell adhesion, is a fundamental property of healthy and diseased tissue. The receptors that mediate cell adhesion are already therapeutic targets of several drugs that are in clinical trials for cancer and diseases of the circulation. Improved understanding of cell adhesion mechanisms, ranging from analysis of receptor structure through to imaging cell adhesion in living tissues, will lead to better insights into how to prevent and treat diseases that have a major impact on human welfare.